Category: Events

Hey all!!!The Union for Gender Empowerment is starting up a short stories book club!
Our first meet up will be Monday February 23rd.
At each meeting, we will vote which short story we’ll read out loud at the event (preferably written by queer and/or trans folks and/or people of color), and then we’ll have a discussion session afterwards.

There will be snacks a plenty, with gluten-free, lactose-free, and vegan options available!

The first meeting will take place in the UGE’s space (room 413 in the SSMU building, 3480 rue McTavish), which is wheelchair accessible. We’ll have some non-fluorescent lighting as well. We have some toys and coloring books and colored pencils in the UGE that you can fidget with if you need something to do with your hands!

Book club will be held approximately once a month- stay tuned for future dates/times.

DARKMATTER is a trans south asian art and activist collaboration comprised of janani and alok. Using poetry & polemic, tweet & tirade DM is committed to an art practice of gender self(ie) determination, racial justice, and movement building.

For the entire Culture Shock Schedule, please visit qpirgmcgill.org/culture-shock. Culture Shock is an annual event series dedicated to exploring the myths surrounding immigrants, refugees, Indigenous peoples and communities of colour.

This event is co-sponsored by the Student’s Society of McGill University, the Social Equity and Diversity Office, the Union for Gender Empowerment, and QPIRG-Concordia. It will take place on McGill’s campus in the MacDonald Harrington Building, Room G-10 on Friday, November 7th at 6:30 pm.

~The event is free and open to the public
~ The venue is wheelchair accessible (access details coming soon)
~ Free childcare available on site
~ Please be in touch with any other access needs (qpirg@ssmu.mcgill.ca, 514 398 7432)

~~~~~~#ItGetsBitter~~~~~

#TBT back to when we were told as queer youth that it was supposed to “get better.” What they forgot to tell us is that gay rights are often only for gay whites! With an increase in racist and queerphobic violence and a state that uses our bodies to advance its imperialist agenda at home and abroad, what’s become apparent is that LGBT rights have become co-opted. Join DarkMatter for a night of poetry, polemic, and healing as we not only critique — but also imagine new queer futures.

Show followed by Q&A.

BIOS:

Janani Balasubramanian is a trans south asian artivist-techie based in brooklyn. they work as a designer and 1⁄2 of the spoken word duo DARKMATTER. janani’s work has been featured in Black Girl Dangerous, Racialicious, Model View Culture, MSNBC, Colorlines, Upworthy, Autostraddle, TEDx, and various print publications. they’ve been invited to perform and facilitate workshops at universities and organizations across the world. janani likes using words/maps/design to tell nonlinear stories about empire, desire, microflora, ancestry, apocalypse, and the Future. they’re currently working on their first sci-fi novel, H, and a comic collection, SHY. you can read more of their work at www.queerdarkenergy.com.

Alok Vaid-Menon is a trans/national south asian writer, performer, and solidarity activist who has organized with racial, economic, and gender justice movements across the world. their creative & political work grapples with questions of diaspora, trauma, race, desire, and politics. as a staff member of the audre lorde project (a grassroots organizing center for LGBT people of color) and 1⁄2 of the spoken word collaboration DARKMATTER, alok is committed to building the collective power of young queer and trans people of color. alok has been invited to perform and facilitate at universities, conferences, and organizations across the world; their work has appeared in various zines & media/publishing outlets like MTV, Best Sex Writing 2015, The New York Times, Upworthy, TEDx and more. to read more visit www.returnthegayze.com.

TOPSIDE PRESS is sending amazing writers on a book tour and they are coming to Montreal. Join us at Café Cléopatra for a night of trans women lit with Topside touring Authors:
Casey Plett (A Safe Girl to Love)Imogen Binnie (Nevada)
Jeanne Thornton (The Black Emerald)Red Durkin

NO COVER! This is a free event! Although there will be a bunch of rare books and zines for sale, so please consider bringing money and investing in Trans Books.
(Also, there is a licensed bar and it would make Cleo’s like us a lot if they sold drinks. They also serve pop.)

RUN-TIME! We are gonna keep a tight schedule! with an hour dedicated to the topside tour and an hour for local folks! so 2 hours total! …and probably a Q&A hang out period at the end, till people leave.

ACCESSIBILITY! We regret that Cafe Cleopatre is not wheelchair accessible. The cabaret space is on the 2nd floor of a building with 3 flights of stairs, that are 5-8 feet wide.
Cafe Cleo’s is a historic cabaret space in Montreal and North America, and has been the home of trans performers for 35+ years.

We will be tabling at this year’s Montreal Anarchist Bookfair on Saturday, May 24th and Sunday, May 25th. Stop by our table for zines, some cool DIY stuff, gender expression & alternative menstrual & safer sex products, and as always free condoms and dental dams. We may even have some new surprises!

All proceeds from our table will go towards funding our Breast Form Project.

Check out the bookfair’s website at anarchistbookfair.ca and check out events as part of the Festival of Anarchy all May!

All proceeds go to the UGE’s Breast Form Pilot Project!
The project’s aim is to help make breast forms and bras more accessible to trans women and trans feminine folks. Breast forms can cost upwards of $200(!), and the project will offer a variety of breast forms, able to body-tailored, and at an affordable, by-donation price (just like all the items in the UGE’s co-op)!

out of consideration for people who are chemically sensitive, please refrain from wearing perfumes and other scented products!
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Midnight Kitchen will be providing BAKED GOODIES and SNACKS available at PWYC donation!

We’re born naked the rest is drag? (Really?)
A workshop to explore masculiniti(es) as a Drag King
~~ powered by the Union for Gender Empowerment ~~
Saturday April 5 2-8pm and Sunday April 6 1-5pm
1500 Maisonneuve W, 404
Bilingual FREE

This workshop starts with our own approaches to and experiences with ‘masculinty’ and ‘femininity’ to go on with the creation of a consistent and individual drag persona. We will use voice and posture exercices and give an introduction to how to transform our bodies (packing, binding, facial hair). This process will be enhenced by short films of famous Drag Kings and photographs. Once our drag persona is created and after having dinner, we would like to go out and access male dominated spaces or go to a bar, in small groups. Keep this evening/night free for this adventure!

On Sunday we will take time together in order to reflect on our experiences as Kings Saturday night. After a brunch and exchange between us Kings, we would like to address the following questions: What do we like of ‘masculinity’, what do we not like? How does our behaviour change when we are Kings? What kind of reactions did we get?

Finally, we would like to discuss the definition of drag (Who am I? Who is my Drag persona? Can I distingish them?), the definition of performance (Do we need political consciousness? Stage vs daily life…) as well as the link to feminism (Do we want to ‘incorporate’ the oppressor’? Or: can drag be subversive and ‘deconstruct gender’ and what does that mean?). Discussions want to be respectful for the particular contexts of trans* and/or racialized folks.

Please, be aware that the workshop doesn’t necessarily prepare for a performance on stage but wants to deepen the development of a drag persona and foster reflections about what Kinging is doing with us.

A buffet on Saturday as well as a brunch on Sunday is served. The event is free. We ask you to bring ‘masculin’ clothes, mascara and scissors, if possible.

In order to make the space as accessible and safe as possible, the workshop is open to cis women and all trans* folks.

Last November, the Deputy Provost committed to expanding McGill’s use of proactive measures to address sexual assault on campus. Following that announcement, students from groups across campus joined together to write a proposal for a Sexual Assault Policy, which they presented to the University in March. Since March, the student-led Sexual Assault Policy Working Group has been working in conjunction with Dean of Students Andre Costopoulos and Harm Reduction Coordinator / Sexual Assault Response Coordinator Bianca Tetrault to develop a draft Sexual Assault Policy to present to the University.This meeting is an opportunity for you to see what we have done, give us feedback, and to join in the fight if you’re interested! During the meeting, we will be reading through the policy and answering questions, then breaking into three working groups to tackle different tasks. One group will comb through the policy and work through spots that could be contentious at Senate; one group will work to collect letters of support from across campus; and one group will focus on publicity. These groups will continue to meet and work together throughout the year.

Snacks and drinks will be provided by SSMU!

We really looking forward to sharing the policy—let’s get this passed!

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Dear Principal Suzanne Fortier, Deputy Provost (Student Life & Learning) Ollivier Dyens, Dean of Students André Costopoulos, and members of the McGill community:

On February 26th, 2014, the McGill Administration hosted a Forum on Consent, where student panelists introduced a Sexual Assault Policy Proposal that the undersigned campus groups have endorsed. While we recognize the recent efforts by the administration to begin addressing rape culture and sexual assault on campus, we call upon you to carefully consider our recommendations regarding a Sexual Assault Policy and Sexual Assault Response Coordinator position as outlined below. Furthermore, we ask that you include the undersigned in ongoing consultation in order to have a campus-based approach to the issue of campus-based sexual violence, and to treat this issue with the sense of urgency it deserves.This open letter and Policy Proposal is a call to action in the aftermath of the highly publicized response to allegations of sexual assault against three varsity football players at McGill University. Considering this case and others at McGill (for example, the 2005 hazing,) and in conjunction with ongoing cases and administrative responses on campuses across the continent, it is clear that rape culture and sexual assault on our campus warrant a stronger response. We envision McGill administration having a crucial role in enacting change on our campus.We are encouraged by the McGill Administration’s increasing attention to issues of sexual assault on campus, and the ongoing hiring process for the Harm Reduction Coordinator, a new position that will aim to improve services relating to sexual violence on campus. In an article in the McGill Reporter, Dean Costopoulos stated that many aspects of our Sexual Assault Policy Proposal “exist already in various sections of McGill policies and codes of conduct”. Nevertheless, until comprehensive, concrete services for survivors and a formal Sexual Assault Policy have been formalized, the administration’s commitment to improvements will remain an empty promise.We are also disappointed by the lack of consultation with relevant campus groups, who have demonstrated a long-term commitment to tackling the prevalence of sexual violence and rape culture in our community. This ongoing work has equipped our groups with an expertise in survivor support and in the development of pro-survivor policies regarding sexual violence on university campuses.

We therefore submit a Sexual Assault Policy Proposal as a proactive step towards being heard regarding initiatives to create a safer campus. In light of the publically expressed commitments made by André Costopoulos (Dean of Students), and Ollivier Dyens (Deputy Provost of Student Life & Learning), we urge the McGill Administration to adopt our Policy Proposal and to incorporate our continuous input in developing a university-wide Sexual Assault Policy.

Our main recommendations include:

Developing a comprehensive, accessible, pro-survivor Sexual Assault Policy that takes a proactive rather than reactive approach to the problem of sexual assault and rape culture on campus.

Hiring a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator who will work closely with the signing parties, provide safety measures and listening support for survivors, and advocate for them. The Coordinator will also serve the community through policy development and campaigns targeting rape culture on campus.

Ensuring that the Policy applies to all members of the McGill community; students, administration, faculty, and all other employees.

Including clearly articulated safety measures for building a safer space on campus for survivors and the community at large.

Given that, according to a study by SAFER and V-day, 83% of the 299 universities surveyed had clearly outlined disciplinary procedures regarding sexual assault, and given the currentclimate across Canadian campuses pertaining to sexual assault, it is imperative that McGill promptly address its lack of a sexual assault policy and of institutionalized survivor services. Let us be at the forefront of universities worldwide not only in academia, but also in building safer campus communities.

The Students’ Society of McGill University Executive
The Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society
The Union for Gender Empowerment
Queer McGill
The Students’ Society of McGill University Equity Committee
The Feminist Collective at McGill Law
Women and the Criminal Law
Quebec Public Interest Research Group McGill

It’s on for a 2nd year! Curated by Kama La Mackerel, with the support of the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) and the Québec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG-McGill), your anti-valentine artistic manifesto and performance night is happening again: “The Self-Love Cabaret: l’amour se conjugue à la première personne!”

As yet another February 14th approaches, as images of coupledom dominate our day-to-day living and our imaginary, as we rush online to try to find ourselves a new date with whom to shrug off the mid-February cold, as we get bombarded with images of couples-couples-couples and we feel the pressure for chocolates, candle-light dinners, and red-red-red roses and red-red-red wine to celebrate the Other, “The Self-Love Cabaret: l’amour se conjugue à la première personne,” is your night to celebrate yourselves with/as queer and feminist artists!

Your evening will be hosted by none other than the stinking self-love fish, Kama La Mackerel [https://www.facebook.com/KamaLaMackerel]
Come around and they’ll provide you with comedy, burlesque, dance, music, theatre, narratives, poetry, and they’ll tell you about their intimate life with themselves, their self-actualizations, their coming of age and how they enjoyed dancing with themselves-elves! #smashvalentine
Café l’Artère, Coopérative de Solidarité
7000 Ave du Parc
H3N 1X1 (80 bus line/Parc Metro)

*** We regret that although the space is wheel-chair accessible, the washrooms are not because the doors are two narrow ***
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